Nov. 21, 2002
CLEVELAND - The Cleveland State volleyball team's two seniors - Michelle Iafigliola (Mentor, Ohio/ Mentor) and Kristine Dabbelt (Batavia, Ohio/ Batavia) - are thoroughly enjoying their last season of competition with the Vikings. As well they should: this has been CSU's best volleyball campaign in 20 years, with a first-ever regional ranking and a host of other "firsts."
But the seniors aren't taking the credit for the team's success. They are quick to point out the efforts of third-year head coach Chuck Voss in reversing the team's fortunes.
"We've done a complete turnaround since he came," said middle hitter Dabbelt, who like Iafigliola was a sophomore when Voss arrived in 2000. "We've improved 100% (since Voss' arrival). Every year he gets even better recruits than the year before, and he has done a phenomenal job with them. Their work ethic, their attitude and the way they present themselves are at an all-time high."
"We could see a difference right away when he came here," added Iafigliola, an outside hitter. One of Voss' first steps when he came aboard was a summer program for the team that included workout sessions and competition in beach volleyball leagues throughout the Cleveland area.
"At first nobody seemed to take it seriously," Dabbelt said. "But this past summer we had the best off-season we've ever had, and now we're playing better than ever."
Heading into the Horizon League Tournament at UW-Green Bay, the Vikings stand at 18-12 overall (5-9 in the league) and are assured their first winning season since 1983. This season CSU also captured in-season tournament titles at home in the CSU Medical Mutual Invitational and on the road in the Western New York Holiday Inn Tournament at held by the Division I colleges of Buffalo, N.Y. In early November, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) recognized the Vikings with a #9 ranking in the region.
Dabbelt and Iafigliola have done their part to make their senior season their best. Dabbelt, a psychology and religion major, was named all-tournament at the Medical Mutual Invitational after putting down a career-best 12 kills against Stony Brook and hitting a stellar .733. She twice equaled her career high for blocks this season and ripped a career-best four service aces at St. Francis.
Iafigliola's senior success has helped her to close out her CSU career ranked among the all-time Viking leaders in kills, digs, service aces, hitting percentage and kills per game. She is now just one of four Vikings ever to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. A marketing major, Iafigliola was named Horizon League Player of the Week earlier this season when she also captured MVP honors at the Medical Mutual Invitational. She pounded out a career-high 28 kills at Central Michigan and collected a career-best 26 digs against Canisius. Looking back on her CSU career, Dabbelt says that Voss has been a demanding coach and has earned his team's respect in the process.
"We started a pretty tough practice regimen about a month ago," she said. "I told him personally that I'm really glad that he makes us stick to it, and that he didn't back out of it. It makes us respect him more."
"A lot of our success has to do with the coaching and the people he has brought in," Dabbelt added. "Chuck looks at the attitudes of the girls he recruits. He recruits girls who are smart as well as athletic. They are all-around good people as well as good athletes."
Voss' emphasis on classroom success has not been lost on Dabbelt, who made the Dean's List last spring. Iafigliola has also distinguished herself academically, with three CSU Athletic Academic Excellence Awards and membership in the Golden Key Honor Society. She also was named to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Academic Honor Roll twice.
Even though the end of their undergraduate careers is on the horizon, so to speak, neither senior is ready to imagine life without volleyball just yet. Dabbelt, who plans to become a guidance counselor after graduate studies in education, says, "I'm excited to get out there, to be an adult, to work, but I'm really going to miss playing on this team."
Iafigliola, the Vikings' Most Outstanding Player in 2001, is similarly focused. "I've always had practice, so I'm used to it being part of my day," she noted.
After beginning her volleyball career in the seventh grade, Iafigliola helped lead the Mentor High School Cardinals to a state runner-up finish as a two-year captain.
"I'm not going to know what to do when 3 p.m. rolls around," she mused.
But she's has always found something besides studies and volleyball. At CSU, Iafigliola has been involved with Habitat for Humanity, was promotions coordinator for the Campus Activities Board and is vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board.
But neither senior will have to worry about life after volleyball just yet. They're saving their best for last: the Horizon League Tournament.
